The Unexpected
by Link and Luigi
Summary: Even Shino can be spontaneous and do the unexpected.
1. Chapter 1

Shino Gets Married

As far as I heard, Uzumaki Naruto got married to Haruno Sakura this morning and currently they were celebrating their new marriage. Everybody certainly was getting married these days.

And I was no exception.

But our wedding was nothing like the Uchiha one that had occurred last year. People didn't celebrate our anniversary along with us as a special occasion.

It was a small wedding. In fact, I'd hardly even call it a wedding.

It took place in a tiny, plain building with only three other people in the entire room. My father, her mother and a judge.

"I hope you're fully aware of what you're doing." I said to her before we entered. "No one has ever married into the Aburame family without countless hardships and then eventually leaving it."

"I know what I'm doing." Said Tsuma. "If you're the only guy in this world who's worthy of NOT being hated then I guess you're the only guy I can marry."

I couldn't argue with that logic.

Actually, it had all been her mother, Kokyuu's, idea. One day, when Tsuma was upstairs getting changed, I was downstairs alone with Kokyuu and, as usual, she felt it necessary to start a conversation.

"_You know, you're ALL she ever talks about." She said, talking about Tsuma of course._

"_Um. Okay." I said, my usual response to everything she said, especially when it had something to do with Tsuma._

"_And, as much as the both of your deny it, I can see that you're more than just friends."_

"_She's a girl and she's a friend. But she's not a girlfriend." I said, feeling as though I may have said that a little too often._

_Kokyuu would always smile and then go about her business, leaving me to let her words fester inside of me in silent wonder._

"_Shino…" she said in her playful tone._

_I turned my head slightly, waiting for her response._

"_Why don't you just marry her?"_

_And that's when Tsuma came down the stairs._

That was about two weeks before I proposed to her. It was nothing extravagant and I certainly am not the romantic type. It was more of a…well, it's difficult to explain. It was more of a spur of the moment thing that I look back on and wonder if I should have done it.

_She was brushing her hair. I was sitting on her bed behind her, smoothing the folds in the blankets._

_She looked at me in the mirror and turned around._

"_What are you doing?" she said in a slightly accusing tone._

_I stopped. "Smoothing the folds in the blankets." I answered bluntly._

"_Oh." She said, putting the brush down._

_I sighed._

_She sighed._

"_Tsuma, I've been thinking a lot lately." I began._

"_Good." Said Tsuma. "I'm glad to hear that."_

_I frowned. She was ruining the "mood". "Have you ever wondered that maybe we're more than just friends?" I asked her._

"_What do you mean?" Tsuma said. "You love me?"_

_I didn't say anything for a little while._

"_Do you?" she said._

_I didn't know what to say._

"_Just ask." She said._

"_Ask what?" I said, looking up._

"_Your question." She replied._

_I stood up. "All right." I said. "Tsuma, do you want to marry me?"_

"_Fine."_

My father did not condemn it nor commend it. He, as usual, kept his silent demeanor. I think the idea of me getting married made him feel old, especially since my mother had still neglected to return from the mission I knew she would eventually come home from.

Tsuma wasn't even wearing a dress at her own wedding.

The judge read from a book for a moment, acknowledged the witnesses and then nodded at us.

"Congratulations, I now pronounce you husband and wife." Said the judge.

Then he looked at me.

"You may kiss the bride."

I didn't move. Neither did Tsuma.

The judge just kept staring at us.

He said I MAY kiss the bride. He didn't say that I HAD to.

"You may kiss the bride." He repeated.

"I heard you the first time." I said.

He waited.

"Okay…" he said slowly. "Well, I guess we're done here then."

He turned his back to us and walked away. Tsuma and I then went towards our respective parents who were there.

"Congratulations, Tsuma!" said Kokyuu as she hugged… my wife. "I always knew you had it in you!"

"Mom, please." Tsuma said, backing away from her. "I hate hugs."

"And you hate me, I know!" said Kokyuu as she dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. "But you can't blame me for being happy for you!"

Tsuma let out a loud sigh and looked at me.

"We should go now." I said as I walked towards the door. Tsuma followed after me.

I couldn't believe I had just taken fifteen minutes out of my day to get married. It cost virtually nothing and we had to make no arrangements, send out no invitations or deal with ten thousand people we didn't even know. Though, I did feel a little bad that I hadn't invited Kiba or Hinata…I mean, they had invited me to their wedding. And it had been there that Tsuma had first told me that she loved me.

"_I don't hate all people."_

_I looked at her. This was different from what she had told me previous. I think the music was playing too loudly or something._

"_Yes you do." I corrected her, figuring she was just doing something to mess with my head since she hated me so much._

"_Shino, you're different from other guys." She said._

"_People tell me that all the time."_

"_But seriously…" she said._

"_Does that make you hate me even more?" I asked her, not really knowing what to expect._

"_Shino, I think I may hate you so much…" Tsuma said. But she didn't sound done._

"_You hate everyone so much." I finished for her._

"_I may hate you so much that I think I love you." She said._

_At that point, I didn't know what to say. _

_After all these years of her telling me that she hated me, she just out of nowhere told me the opposite._

"_Hate me so much that you love me?" I asked her, not fully understanding the logic of such an outrageous statement._

"_Shino, you're so weird." She said._

_I felt confused at the moment, not knowing what to say._

_Me, Aburame Shino, confused?_

"_Why do you think I came to this party?" she asked. "There are so many people here and I hate them all."_

_I stood up from my chair._

"_Where are you going?" she asked me, looking up at me._

"_Over there." I told her, pointing vaguely in a random direction as I walked away._

I guess I never even told Kiba and Hinata that I was getting married.

Oh well, they'll get over it.

If I ever tell them.

"What now?" said Tsuma.

I shrugged.

"Let's go home." Tsuma said.

Home.

She and I went to the place my father and her mother had gotten together and paid for. It was a small little house in the Aburame section of Konoha near where I lived. I didn't care that I was living close to my father, but it still felt a little weird to be in a different house as him.

Even though I had been in this house before and been living in it with Tsuma for the past few months, it somehow felt like it was our first time.

I walked in the house and went inside. After a moment's pause, I suddenly realized that Tsuma was still standing outside.

"Well?" she said.

"Well what?" I asked.

"Aren't you going to carry your bride across the threshold?"

I stared at her.

She glared back and walked in the house on her own.

She went to the kitchen table and picked up a box that was wrapped in red paper with a big pink bow. She let out a sigh as she pulled the bow off. "It's from my mom." She said.

"I figured it wasn't from my dad." I said.

Tsuma took the paper off to reveal a small box. She opened up the box and stared at its contents for a moment.

"What is it?" I asked, walking over.

"It's nothing." She said, swiping the box away and turning her back to me so I couldn't see.

I waited for her to decide that I had a right to see it.

But she came to no such conclusion and instead put the top back on the box and dropped it on the table.

"Don't open that." She instructed.

"Okay." I said with a shrug. I wasn't all THAT curious about what was inside.

"Well, now that we're a married couple, what should we do?" Tsuma said.

I was a little hungry.

"I don't know." I said.

She picked up a remote control and turned the television on. "Let's watch television." She said.

I sat down on the couch. I had no objections. I had nothing else to do today.

I was only sitting for a few seconds before Tsuma suddenly came up and sat down next to me. I looked at her out of the corner of my eye but it didn't appear as though she was going to correct her actions any time soon so I cleared my throat and moved over a little bit.

In response, she moved closer to me.

Now she was even closer than she had originally been.

So I moved over a little more.

She moved over a little more.

I slowly slinked myself down to the floor, leaning up against the couch.

She didn't move for a few moments. I had finally outsmarted her.

Without warning, she plopped herself down next to me.

It was finally time to say something.

"Tsuma, what are you doing?" I asked.

"We're married." She said. "We should sit next to each other now."

"We don't HAVE to." I said.

"Right." She said. "Just like you didn't have to kiss me."

Well…I didn't.

"Yeah." I said.

"Now we're married, Shino." Said Tsuma.

"And?" I said.

She frowned. "Now I know why I hate you so much." She said, standing up and walking away.

I didn't let it bother me.

I just turned off the television. It was so loud and I liked it being quiet. The only time it was ever on was when Tsuma wanted to watch it and since Tsuma wasn't here, it didn't need to be on.

I sat in that room by myself staring at the black screen for a while before I finally felt motivated to stand up and figure out what was inside the box Kokyuu had left on our table.

Even though Tsuma had told me not to look inside, it really was a present for both of us. Besides, if she didn't want me to look at it THAT BADLY then she wouldn't have left it out on the table where it was easily accessible if she were to ever leave the area.

I stood up and quietly made my way across the room towards the box.

I slipped the lid off easily and moved some tissue paper to the side.

There was a small folded piece of cloth hidden within the tissue paper. I picked it up and let it unfold.

It was a small set of pajamas, blue.

And when I say small, I mean really really small. As in baby sized.

It didn't take long for me to piece together what exactly a pair of blue baby sized pajamas was doing in our house minutes after we had gotten married.

What did Kokyuu have in mind? She knew there was no baby in the house. We all knew there was no baby in the house.

At least…I think there's no baby in the house.

"Tsuma." I said in a slightly elevated voice.

"What?" she replied. I turned around to see that she was standing in the doorway.

"Is there a baby in the house?" I asked.

"No." she said. "There's no baby in the house."

Well. At least there's no baby in the house.


	2. Chapter 2

The past year living with Tsuma has been an interesting one.

Actually, it wasn't much different than the years I lived with my father, instead now it was a wife.

Instead of a father.

She also quit being a ninja. I don't know why, but she mumbled something about hating the Hokage, hating the other ninjas of the village, hating her mother, hating people in general and pretty much just hating everyone EXCEPT for me whom she loved.

So I left her with those thoughts.

I was the ninja of the family. The family of two.

I brought up joining ANBU once or twice, but both times Tsuma kind of just glared at me.

_"I'm thinking of asking to be nominated for the ANBU exam." I said._

_"I hate ANBU." She responded._

_"It pays better." I tried to reason with her._

_"I hate ANBU." She repeated._

_Well, I guess that was all the reasoning she needed._

_"Don't you remember what happened to your mother?" she continued. "You don't need to be in ANBU. We're fine the way we are. We don't need more money just so you can risk your life and die like your mother did."_

_I hated it when she brought up my mother._

_"I hate it when you bring up my mother." I said._

_"I hate your mother."_

_And such was life with Tsuma._

"Where are you going?"

I was at the door. Tsuma always tended to do this to me… she made me think that I was all set to go without having to report to her, but then she'd suddenly bombard me with questions as if she really needed to know where I was going to be every moment of every day.

"Just out." I said.

"Where out?" she said.

I hadn't really planned that part.

"Just out." I repeated.

"Oh sure." She said, sounding annoyed as she threw her arms up in the air and turned her back to me as I began to open the door. "And me four months pregnant!"

I stopped.

Slowly, I turned and looked at her.

"Shino." She said. "I was just kidding."

I glared at her, but it's not like she knew.

"I'll be back in fifteen minutes." I said.

"You better be." She said.

The last thing I needed or wanted at this point was a son. I was busy trying to qualify for the ANBU exam because, despite Tsuma's strict wishes, I planned on becoming part of the team.

But, for now, I was just going to go for a walk.

I closed the door behind me and began my trip. Where I was going was beyond even me, but there's no harm in getting outside every once and a while.

While ANBU was fresh in my mind, a thought crossed through my head. That time when my father told me about my mother being missing.

_I was eighteen._

_"Shino, your mother is missing in action." My father told me as we sat at the dinner table. It was out of the ordinary for him to say anything at the table while we ate, but I guess this was important._

_"What?" I said, wanting further explanation._

_"No one can find her." He said. "She went on a mission with the rest of our ANBU Squad and when they returned, she suddenly wasn't there."_

_"That's odd." I said. "I'm sure she'll turn up."_

I wasn't too worried. After all, if my mother was such a good ninja that I only got to see her in intervals of less than a day between her missions then she wasn't going to just up and disappear.

Unfortunately, no one else on the ANBU Squad had the same thoughts as I did. Not even my own father believed that she was alive almost immediately after she disappeared. Though, no one really seemed all that affected by her apparent death, not pausing for a moment from their ongoing missions to even have a memorial service for her.

What could be expected, though?

She was only an Aburame.

**As some of you have noticed, the previous chapter was taken from a chapter that never made it of "As I See It". Out of all honesty, we were sad that those chapters weren't submitted on this site so we've cropped, cut and pasted and done all SORTS of illegal things to make those chapters into what resembled a story. So that's why some parts mayseem familiar! That's it.**


	3. Chapter 3

I don't know what possessed me to do it.

I watched Hinata run out of her house, down the front lawn, followed by her little girl. She was meeting up with some of her friends, all of which had their young children with them.

I cocked my head to one side and peered at the children from a distance. Perhaps it was time for me to have a son of my own.

The group, without even noticing me, turned and started walking.

I took a lot of walks these days, and, as I watched them get further and further away from Hinata's house, I pondered about Kiba's whereabouts. Just a few months ago, I heard that Akamaru had died. I didn't know at the time so I had foolishly gone over there since I had promised Hinata the day before that I would.

_I knocked on the door and waited a few minutes for it to open. I knew that because Kiba wasn't there to loudly greet me and cheer in surprise, this meant something was wrong. After all, there seemed to be a dark cloud over the little Inuzuka residence. _

_The door opened a little bit and Hinata was there, looking as though she had been crying, and still was._

_"Am I interrupting something?" I asked._

_"No, no." she said, swallowing her tears. "Come in."_

_"That's all right." I said. "You two are in the middle of something."_

_"No, we're not, please come in." Hinata insisted._

_I stood there and stared at her as she tried to wipe her eyes and pretend nothing was wrong._

_"It's Akamaru, isn't it?" I said._

_Hinata nodded and covered her mouth as she started to cry again._

_"I figured so much." I said. "Well, you two need some time alone. We'll have to get a rain check on this dinner."_

_"Thanks so much for understanding, Shino." Hinata whimpered._

_"Whatever." I said, turning my back to Hinata and walking down the path._

As I look back on that, it probably wasn't the best thing I could have done. Maybe I should have gone in and offered my respects, even though Akamaru was just a dog.

But I guess Akamaru wasn't _just _a dog. He was Kiba's dog. There's no way I could understand something like friendship, though, so I tried to forget it.

Something bothered me, however. If I didn't understand the first thing about friendship, then why couldn't I let that memory go?

I remembered the first time I had referred to Kiba and Hinata as my "friends" when I was speaking to my father.

_"Father, I have to train with my friends tomorrow morning."_

_"Your friends?"_

_"Yes."_

_My father cleared his throat and sighed a bit._

_"Is something the matter?" I asked._

_"No." said my father. "But your teammates are not your friends."_

_"Kiba and Hinata say I'm their friend."_

_"It's not true." My father replied. "No one can befriend an Aburame. They all believe we are incapable of love and friendship, so therefore we become so."_

_"You love mother, don't you?"_

_"It's complicated, Shino. Don't ask anymore questions about the matter."_

When they were far enough away so I knew they wouldn't notice me if they happened to turn around for one reason or another, I started walking again. The last thing I needed was for Hinata to turn around and see me and then call Kiba over from wherever he was hiding and then force me to go with them to wherever they were going.

I walked by the Inuzuka house, a place I hadn't visited since that day I found out about Akamaru. It was pretty big, but not unnaturally big. Bigger than my house, anyway.

I looked ahead of me at Hinata and Sakura getting smaller off in the distance. Then I looked back at the house.

I don't know why, but I went up the front walk and knocked on the door. No one answered it immediately, so I went for the doorknob, which was unlocked.

I opened the door just a little bit at first.

"Hello?" I said.

"Shino?" said Kiba as he poked his head around the corner. "Hey! Shino! Wow! What a surprise!"

"Uh…" I said, realizing just how stupid I had been to come in the house.

"Come in!" said Kiba as he practically sprinted over to me and dragged me inside. "What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"Um." I said.

"Oh." Said Kiba with a nod.

"I'm just going for a walk." I clarified.

"Okay!" said Kiba. "But NOW you get to hang out with me instead!"

I made a move for the door but Kiba threw himself in front of it.

"You know what I've been doing with my time lately?" Kiba said as he grabbed my arm and led me into the kitchen where I definitely smelled something burning.

"Burning things?" I tried.

"No." said Kiba. "Cooking of course!"

"Of course." I said. He said that as if it were obvious.

"What are you making?" I said, turning the oven light on and leaning over to see what was inside.

"Well, I haven't really started yet." Said Kiba. "But I wanted to use this Tupperware that was in the refrigerator but it turned out that it was in the freezer so I put it in the oven so it would thaw."

It took a minute or so for that to process.

Then I stood up and stared at him.

"No you didn't." I said. No one could possibly be THAT stupid.

"Yes I did." Said Kiba, looking confused. "See?"

He pointed in the oven.

"You didn't do that." I concluded.

"Yes I did!" said Kiba, sounding a little annoyed as if he was offended that I was suggesting someone else had thought up the idea first.

I turned the stove off. "You're not supposed to do that." I said. I had never cooked before and even I knew that you weren't supposed to do that.

"Well, it's probably all thawed by now anyway!" said Kiba as he flung open the stove and reached in with his bare hands. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back away from the stove.

"You're not about to do that." I said.

"Yes I am, Shino!" said Kiba, sounding ABOVE annoyed.

I pulled open the drawer that was right next to the stove and it, sure enough, had oven mitts in it. "Use these." I said, handing him the mitts.

"Oh yeah!" laughed Kiba. "I remember LAST time I took something out of the oven without putting these oven mitts on."

How could someone make that mistake twice? How could someone make that mistake ONCE?

Kiba reached in and pulled out the melted piece of Tupperware. Half of it was still glued to the insides of the stove, but he didn't seem to mind. What he was mostly concerned about was whether or not it was thawed.

I guess Kiba had gotten a little senile ever since his dog died.

So I took it upon myself to close the stove. And turn it off for him, just to be safe. This reminded me of the time when Kiba nearly set _my_ house on fire because he insisted on making me a birthday surprise.

_We were nineteen. We sat outside waiting for my father to return home and discover the mess we had created in the kitchen. I don't remember how we got sidetracked, but it had something to do with Hinata that all of a sudden became an uncomfortable conversation about me._

_"Come on, Shino." Said Kiba. "You can't tell me that you've never been in love before!"_

_Of course I could. After all, I never lie._

_"I've never been in love before." I said._

_"That's a lie!" said Kiba, pointing at me._

_"No it's not." I said._

_"I KNOW you have a girlfriend." Said Kiba. "I see you with her all the time."_

_What? Why was he saying that? It wasn't true. Oh, then again, he may have been speaking about Tsuma. Because, even though she hated me so very much, we did spend a lot of time together. But we weren't interested in each other in a 'life partner' sort of way._

_But Kiba's pretty stupid so he must have thought that we did._

_Even though we don't._

_"She's not my girlfriend." I said._

_Kiba looked surprised. I suddenly felt like I had messed up._

_"So you DO have a lady friend?" he said, looking astonished._

_I wouldn't exactly call her a friend, especially since she hates me. _

_Besides, I don't have friends. _

_I have acquaintances…like Kiba and Hinata… and Tsuma… but not FRIENDS._

I shook my head, wanting to get back on track as Kiba waved the Tupperware around in an attempt to cool it down.

"What did you want the Tupperware for?" I questioned.

"Oh, this and that." Said Kiba with a shrug.

…Okay…

"What did you plan on making?" I tried.

Kiba shrugged. "I dunno." He said. "Do you have any ideas?" He put the melted Tupperware on the table and opened up the freezer. "Hey! I didn't know we had ice cream."

"You don't put ice cream in the oven." I said.

Kiba looked at me as if _I _was being the stupid one.

"I know that Shino." He said. "That much is obvious."

All of it was pretty obvious.

I watched as Kiba sighed and sighed, just standing in front of the open freezer as if something would just jump out at him… as if he was SUPPOSED to just leave the freezer door open like that. Then I glanced at the clock and realized I had been out for almost twenty minutes.

And, while I wasn't going to let Tsuma give me a curfew, it's not like I wanted to stick around and watch Kiba destroy more of his kitchen items.

"I have to leave now." I said, going for the front door before he had an opportunity to stop me.

"Oh, Shino!" said Kiba, running to me without even closing the freezer door. "You have to go? Now? And leave me here? Alone? By myself? Without anyone to talk to?"

I waited for him to finish.

"Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes." I answered all of his questions.

He only lowered his head as I opened up the door.

I must admit that I did feel a little bad for him. Kiba's the kind who can never be alone and, as of late, he found himself alone a lot. There was only so much Hinata could do to help his need for company.

I made my way home, hoping not to crash into anyone else I knew. Then again, it's not like anyone else in the entire world would have said hi to me. Unless Kiba suddenly appeared outside in front of me or Hinata suddenly was coming from the other direction, I was pretty much in the clear.

I entered my house to find Tsuma had pretty much not moved from where she had been when I left.

"You're ten minutes late." She said.

"Seven." I corrected her.

"You were visiting Kiba, weren't you?" she said with a suspicious eye.

"So?" I said.

"I hate him." She said. "You should too."

"I have no reason to hate him." I told her.

"He's annoying. That's plenty reason."

_"Shino!" Kiba said happily. "What a pleasant and strangely random surprise! What are you doing here?"_

_"I got your invitation." I answered._

_"Oh, my wedding invitation?" said Kiba as if that sort of thing happened every day. "Yeah, I mailed those I guess. You want to come in?"_

_"I just came over to congratulate you." I clarified._

_"That was nice!" said Kiba. "Are you going to be able to make it?"_

_"I suppose." I replied._

_"Good because I was hoping you'd be my best man." Said Kiba._

_I coughed a little bit in surprise. "Your best man?"_

_"Well YEAH!" said Kiba. "You're my best human friend! So will you do it?"_

_"I need to think about it." I said. This wasn't something I could just... DO._

_"Aww…" said Kiba sadly as I turned to leave. "Do you really not want to be my best man that much?"_

_"It's not that." I said. "I'm just trying to figure out WHY someone like you would choose someone like me to be the best man."_

_"Well Shino, I already said that it was because you were my best friend and if that's not a good enough reason then I don't know WHAT is."_

I shrugged in response. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. I don't hate Kiba, I just don't really like him all that much. Then again, that's really what I keep telling myself. Maybe, in reality, I was just afraid to admit that I had actually come by a friend.

I mean, if I could end up getting married to a woman outside the Aburame clan then what's stopping me from having a friend outside the Aburame clan? Or just a friend in general?


	4. Chapter 4

Well, that was it.

I got a phone call this morning and it was a very interesting phone call indeed.

It was news to all the Aburames that the most recent leader of the clan tragically died in an accident that none of us wish to speak of.

Because he died without proclaiming the next leader, it was a big dispute over who would be the next leader.

There were many qualified Aburames and all of them saw themselves most fit for the job.

Naturally, I saw myself most fit.

Most other Aburames would probably tell you the same thing. That they were most fit for the job, of course. But I knew that I was the most fit so they could think whatever they liked.

I think that maybe even Tsuma thought that I was most fit for the job.

In fact, it was her that suggested I do it.

_"Well, the former Aburame clan leader passed away." I said to her one day when there was nothing else to talk about._

_"Oh." Said Tsuma. "How do you guys do it? His son will take over?"_

_"No." I replied. "Normally, the former leader decides on who will take his place but he didn't designate anyone."_

_"I see." Said Tsuma. "So what now?"_

_"We nominate ourselves and then there's a vote." I answered._

_She didn't say anything for a long while._

_"What?" I said finally._

_"You should nominate yourself." She said._

_And she left it at that._

We had to nominate ourselves in order to potentially be leader. The Aburames don't believe in forcing someone to do something they truly have no desire to do.

I nominated myself at the last meeting and a group of officials started making their decision.

Just as they were going to announce the winner, the announcer mysteriously died so we had to postpone the announcement.

When I say 'postpone', I really mean cancel it. Rather than making another meeting to announce the leader, the new leader was simply telephoned and informed of the decision.

Then everyone else was sent a letter. It was that simple. I was that Aburame who got the phone call. I hung up the phone and walked over to where Tsuma was setting up for dinner.

"I'm the head of the Aburame Clan now." I told her.

I hate the Aburames.

"I hate the Aburames." She said, following exactly what I predicted.

"You should stop being so predictable." I told her.

Just as she was about the respond, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." She said.

As she walked off, I stood in the middle of the room.

Now what?

When I was a child, I didn't even know that there WAS a clan leader.

I suppose I had to tell my father. After all, I never even told him that I was nominating myself. In fact, now that I think about it, I haven't really seen him for a while.

Tsuma's conversation with our visitor distracted me from my current thoughts of my father.

"What are you doing here again?" I heard Tsuma ask as she opened the door.

"Just here to visit my good pal Shino." I heard Kiba's voice.

Why is he here THIS time?

"Shino hates you." Tsuma told Kiba.

I think Kiba is wise to Tsuma too.

After all, he never let Tsuma's unconditional and vocal hatred towards him affect him in any way whatsoever.

"No he doesn't." Kiba said. "Shino's my best buddy!"

Should I show myself or keep Kiba in the dark forever?

I finally gave in and walked around the corner.

"Don't try and hide, Shino!" Kiba yelled just as I walked out.

Thanks for the greeting, Kiba.

"Hide, Kiba?" I asked, as I walked over.

Tsuma leaned over to me.

"Shino, I hate him." She said, pointing discreetly at Kiba. She didn't need to hide the fact that she was pointing at him because it was pretty obvious who she was talking about.

Shino walked into my house uninvited and closed the door.

How long did he plan on staying?

I hoped it wasn't as long as LAST time. Last time he had stayed for… almost twenty minutes. But still, even if Kiba's presence annoyed Tsuma that much, she could at least be a little nicer to him.

_"If you hate him so much, why do you hang out with him?" Tsuma asked me suddenly._

_"I don't hang out with him." I told her. I didn't add the 'willingly' part. _

_"You were the best man at his wedding." She told me._

_"And I don't really hate him either." I said._

_"Are you sure?" she asked me, looking surprised._

_"I tolerate him." I told her._

_"I wouldn't be able to." She said._

_"I guess I've gotten used to him." I told her. "Ten years numbs you to him."_

_"I hate Kiba." She clarified just in case I didn't know. Which I did._

"Guess what, Shino?" Kiba asked with a big smile on his face.

I waited.

And waited.

But he didn't tell me.

"Guess what, Shino." He said again.

I hope he didn't actually expect me to guess.

"What?" Tsuma said.

"Are you Shino?" Kiba said.

I know Kiba didn't hate Tsuma.

He's just weird that way.

Tsuma crossed her arms and turned toward me. "I hate you guys."

"Third time!" Kiba said, holding three fingers up in my face. "Guess what, Shino?"

Maybe I'll humor him. "What?"

"Aren't you going to guess?"

Now he should know me better than that. "No."

Kiba waited a moment. He was going to make me guess.

Just when I was about to glare at him intensely, he put his hands on his hips.

"I got the job!" he said.

Okay. Since when was Kiba even applying for a job? Did he ever tell me that he was applying for a job? He might have told me when he was just babbling and I accidentally let my mind wander, but if he was this excited about it, I doubt he could have told me and then not elaborated extensively about it to make it memorable.

"What job?"

"I figured you'd ask that!" Kiba said. Then why did you say it? "Remember Iruka?"

I nodded.

I hope he doesn't work for Iruka.

"Well, now I'm him!" he said.

What?

"Not LITERALLY Shino." Kiba said.

I knew he didn't mean it literally. I just didn't know what he meant by he WAS him. "I know that." I said just so he didn't think I was stupid.

Maybe I _did _remember him saying something about it.

_"Well, Shino." Kiba said with a sigh as he sat down. "I've decided to do it!"_

_"Do what?" I asked._

_"I've decided to apply for the teaching job that opened up at the academy."_

_"Why?" I said, puzzled as to why anyone would ever do that._

_"Because I know I could do better than all those other guys." Kiba said, stretching as he leaned back in his chair._

_"Don't lean back in that chair." I said. "It's new, and Tsuma will kill me if it breaks."_

"I bet you thought it would never happen!" Kiba said as he invaded my personal space, making me jolt back to realty. Perhaps I had missed a bit of what he had said, but maybe I didn't. Either way, I still would have had the same response.

I didn't think it would happen. But it's not like I thought it WOULDN'T happen either. I never thought about it. The idea of Kiba 'being Iruka' just never crossed my mind. Ever.

"That's true." I told him.

"Such little faith!" Kiba laughed. His eyes wandered over to Tsuma who was glaring at him.

She was probably suppressing the urge to inform me of her hatred toward him.

Why she was suppressing the urge, I couldn't tell you. But I guess she figured her point was conveyed well enough after the first four times she told him after he entered.

"Well, time to go!" Kiba said as he opened the door up and left. Then, speaking through the closed door, he said, "Bye Shino!"

I started walking away from the door but then it opened back up.

"Bye Shino!" Kiba said as he closed the door again.

Was he going to keep doing that until he got a response?

Well, I wasn't going to on only the SECOND time. He'd have to do it at LEAST three times before I would stoop down to his little games.

But he didn't. And I was relieved.

Tsuma stared at the door for longer than I did. Finally, she looked at me. "You know what?"

"You hate him?"

"Yeah. I really do hate him."

"Is that supposed to be news to me?"

"No." said Tsuma. "I thought you KNEW I hated him."

"I do." I said.

"You hate him too?" Tsuma said, looking surprised.

"No, I knew you hated him." I said.

Hate Kiba? Dislike him, maybe. But not hate him.

Actually, I don't know if I'd go so far as to say I disliked him. I was just annoyed by him just because we were such different people and for some reason, he felt as though we NEEDED to be best friends.

I didn't really have any other friends except for him, and it was all very strange to me.

For him, on the other hand, it seemed natural.

I guess for some people, friendships come easily.

But not for me.


	5. Chapter 5

Now that the mission was over, I could easily say that it had been a success. I know a ninja is always supposed to be on his guard until he is safely back at his village reporting to his Hokage, but I gave it one last look around and decided for myself that we were all set.

I became an ANBU only a few weeks earlier and this was my first real mission as a member of the team. My teammates didn't look me in the eye and avoided speaking to me whenever possible. I didn't know if this was ANBU tendencies or if it was because I was an Aburame.

Either way, this new five-man team of mine was not like the team I had been put on when I was twelve years old, and quickly departed from a year later. I didn't even know these other four's names.

At the rate my team was going at, I didn't expect we'd make it back to the village by the time I promised Kiba, Hinata and Kurenai. Today was our sixteenth anniversary not mandatory team meeting and, although I wouldn't normally be eager for such a thing, (or eager at all) after a month and a half long mission, one usually does just want to get back into the swing of things. And if that meant dealing with Kiba then I guess that's the way it worked.

_"Shino, if my calculations are correct, you're going to be gone for a month and a half." Said Kiba._

_"Oh no…" Hinata said as she braided her daughter's hair. "Are you going to miss the sixteen year team meeting?"_

_I sighed. "Do we even have to do that?" I said. "We see each other enough."_

_"I guess…" Hinata said, looking dejected._

_Kiba shrugged, but he appeared just as dejected as his young wife._

_I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure I'll be back in time." I said._

_Immediately, their eyes lit up._

_"I'm holding you to your word, Shino!" Kiba announced._

And I always keep my word.

Suddenly, the team leader, who is probably the most powerful ninja in the village since he is leader of the ANBU team, put up his hand to signal for us to stop.

We were already going at a slow pace already and now we had to stop? I was definitely not going to make it back in time for the reunion.

But, because our leader told us to, we all came to a stop as he scouted the area. The rest of us instinctively began to scout as well.

I assumed we were scouting for rogue ninjas who had planned to catch us off guard, but I couldn't be sure since our leader would not utter a word. He raised one hand and pointed in a grove of trees.

Two of the other members threw shuriken into the trees and pursued them. After a moment of rustling, they emerged, throwing a ninja on the ground in front of them.

"Who are you?" our leader asked.

The man remained in his pitiful state sprawled out on the ground. He looked up at the leader, but didn't answer.

So the leader bent down and grabbed the man's collar. "Are you alone? Are there other's with you?"

The man just smiled.

"Shino, Tansei, scout the area." Said our leader.

I nodded, as did another member of the team as we both departed to have a look around.

Tansei, I guess his name was, was also a newer member of the team. He had been on the team for almost a year and he was much younger than I. I do not believe that he was much of a better ninja just because he joined ANBU before I did, but he did train under Kakashi.

"Nothing to report so far…" Tansei said to me.

I could have easily seen that for myself.

He stopped and started looking around.

I sent out a bug to check a suspicious area.

The bug returned. "How many?" I asked.

"What?" said Tansei.

I glared at Tansei and ignored him as the bug began to fly in an eight shape. "Eight?" I said quietly.

But the bug continued to fly in the shape.

"Infinity." I said finally.

The bug stopped flying.

"What are you doing?" said Tansei.

"There are many men waiting for us to walk into an ambush on the other side of this forest." I replied. "An army."

Tansei didn't answer at first.

"I think that is something to report." I said finally.

We both returned back to our leader who had our captive tied to a tree.

"Sir, we discovered a large army of men waiting on the other side of the forest!" said Tansei.

WE found an army of men? _I _found the army.

"Let's take them out!" said one of the men, but the leader put his hand up.

"No." he said. "We must avoid this army at all costs and return to Konoha for reinforcements."

"We can take them out!" said the same foolhardy member from before.

"I have given the order and, as leader of this team, you must follow it." said the leader, looking cross.

The team member drew his sword and pointed it directly at our leader. "I will follow what order I wish." He said.

The leader closed his eyes and paused. Then he dropped to the ground and swept his leg right under the man's two legs, knocking him off balance, causing him to fall to the ground. The sword flew up into the air and, as our leader stood back up, he caught it without giving it a second thought.

"Don't ever point your weapon at me." Said our leader, throwing it aside. I thought it was kind of ridiculous thing for our teammate to react so strongly like that. "That is like treason, and if you even consider doing it again then I will kill you."

A smirk glazed over his expression as a shuriken from the trees launched forward towards our leader. The leader didn't even turn or flinch, just grabbed the shuriken before it made contact.

Then came the ninjas.

They dropped from the trees, came from the bushes and even popped right up out of the ground. There must have been twenty of them.

I always considered ambushes to be the most dishonorable style of attack. But now was not the time to think or be offended by the actions of my enemies, it was time to defend against them.

I blocked an attack and then flipped backwards as another one tried to attack me from behind. I landed, and noticed that the sword our leader had thrown was now at my feet. I looked up to see the foolhardy and over reactive teammate looking down at me.

"Hand it over, newbie." He said, putting out his hand. Something about him definitely wasn't right.

"Take this one!" said one of the enemy ninjas as he dropped a sword in our so-called teammate's hand. It was then I realized that this teammate had done more treason than just point a weapon at our team leader. This was a spy who had infiltrated himself into our ranks.

There were ninjas all around me, seemingly no way to escape. He raised his sword to cut me down, but I grabbed his old sword and raised it to block. He only smiled at my efforts. He was standing and I was crouched on the ground, and new knew that that gave him a weight advantage over me. I held back the sword the best I could, but I knew it would only be so long before he overpowered me or one of the other ninjas standing idly by decided that he'd just jump in and end this now.

The traitor raised his foot and kicked my sword up into the air and pushed me onto my back. I rolled over and got to my feet just as he took another swipe at me.

That's when I suddenly felt an unbearable piercing pain in the back of my head.

_"Shino, do you have any ideas for a secret handshake?" Kiba asked as he grabbed my hand and started contorting it into different positions._

_I figured that if I just stood there and watched he'd eventually realize that I was not going to make a secret handshake with him._

_But it certainly wasn't processing fast enough for my liking._

_"We don't NEED a secret handshake." I said since he obviously didn't understand._

_"Yes we do." Said Kiba, looking completely serious._

The next thing I knew, I was lying down and my head was throbbing at the rate of my heartbeat.

Something touched my hand so I tried to draw away, being weary of my attackers.

"Shino…!" I heard a voice.

"Shino?" I heard another voice. Both female, which was strange because there had been no females on my team.

I tried to move, but my body felt kind of numb.

"Shino, I TOLD you joining ANBU was a bad idea! I'll hate you forever for this, you know!"

Tsuma?

I opened my eyes to see her standing over me. I was inside. When did I get here and…how?

I suddenly felt something on my neck so, I quickly drew away from that as well. There was no reason for anyone to be touching me.

"This is…incredible!" I heard someone exclaim. "He wasn't expected to recover…"

What? Was I dying?

"Shino?" came a very painfully familiar voice. I looked up to see as Kiba came running over with his daughter following close behind him. "Shino! You're all right!"

"Please, sir, keep your voice down." Said an unfamiliar voice.

"Is Shino okay?" Kiba's daughter asked.

"I'll be right back." Said the unfamiliar voice as he left the room.

I didn't know how I had gotten into this situation. But I did know one thing. I was going to blame it on my team's lack of teamwork. Everyone wanted to do everything for themselves. Of course, it couldn't possibly be any fault of MINE, after all.

I looked up to see Tsuma, Hinata, Kiba and their daughter all looming over me with wide eyes. Before I could say anything, a whole lot of medical ninjas came running into the room and pushed all of my significant others out of the room.

"How long was I unconscious?" I said, but my voice was hardly above a whisper.

"Don't speak, try to rest." A medical ninja urged me.

"How long was I unconscious?" I repeated, more loudly this time.

"Just a few hours." A different ninja assured me.

So…I was back in time for the reunion.

I always keep my word.


	6. Chapter 6

"Shino."

I wasn't ready to wake up.

"Shino, wake up."

I felt someone shaking me. I rolled over and looked at Tsuma who was standing over me.

"What?" I said.

"Moujo is crying." She said, crawling under the covers.

Sure enough, my daughter who was NOT a son was crying.

I sat up. "Tsuma, you were already up." I said, staring at her but she was avoiding eye contact by turning over and facing the wall. "Why didn't you tend to her?"

"Because I hate her." Tsuma said, pulling the covers over her head.

_Tsuma said that she had a doctor's appointment on that day so I didn't expect her back for a little while. So, of course, I was surprised to see her sitting at the kitchen table when I returned home from a meeting with the Hokage._

_"Tsuma, what about your doctor's appointment?" I asked her._

_"I went to it." she said, looking up._

_"Oh." I said._

_She waited._

_"Aren't you going to ask what it was about?" she led me._

_"What was it about?" I asked even though I didn't really care all that much. I figured it was just a routine check-up._

_"Well, you know how I've been sick a lot lately?" I nodded to acknowledge the fact that I knew she had been sick a lot lately. "I went to the doctor to find out why."_

_"That makes sense."_

_"So I went in and the doctor did only one test and he found out what was wrong with me." Tsuma continued._

_I nodded for her not to stop._

_She stood up and slammed her hands down on the table. "I hate you Shino!" she yelled. "I hate you more than anyone else in the entire world! I hate you more than anyone in the entire world PUT TOGETHER!"_

_"Did you get a virus from me?" I asked even though I couldn't recall being sick recently._

_"No!" she said. "Worse! I'm PREGNANT!"_

_I don't quite remember what happened after that._

I guess that was it.

I got out of bed and slowly made my way to the baby room that was, unfortunately, painted pink. Not blue. We had originally painted it blue only to be unpleasantly surprised to have our son to come out lacking certain masculine aspects to him. In fact, he had come out a SHE and Tsuma's mother had insisted on coming in and painting the room pink.

No matter what name I suggested, Tsuma claimed she hated all of them. So I named her Moujo. I didn't think there was any name that could fit her better.

I looked down in the crib at the crying baby. She must have been two… or three… or four… or five… months old… maybe six…

I leaned over and poked her.

"Go back to sleep." I said.

Surprisingly, my command had no effect on her.

So I tapped her on the forehead. "Stop crying." I insisted.

But she still did not react in the way I wanted her to. In fact, I think she only cried harder and started to flail her arms and legs around.

I sighed. What was I supposed to do to make her stop crying if she wasn't going to respond to my requests?

So I went back into the other room where Tsuma had a pillow over her head.

"Tsuma, Moujo won't stop crying." I said.

"Did you try rocking her?" Tsuma asked, sounding annoyed.

No, I hadn't tried that. I went back into the pink room and looked down at Moujo, still crying.

I pushed her to the side slightly and then pushed her the other way. But she continued to cry, even though I continued to 'rock' her. This wasn't going work.

I went back to Tsuma. "It didn't work." I said.

"Did you pat her on the back?" Tsuma groaned.

No.

I went back into the baby room. I rolled Moujo onto her stomach and pat her on the back.

Like the rest of my attempts, this didn't prove anything.

So I went back to Tsuma. "Nothing is working." I reported.

Tsuma let out an exasperated sigh and got out of bed. She stormed past me and into the baby room.

"She's not supposed to be on her stomach!" said Tsuma, picking her up out of the crib. "Was she on her stomach when you got in here?"

"No." I said. I didn't know babies weren't supposed to be on their stomach.

"So you tried rocking her like this but she still didn't stop?" Tsuma said as she put the baby's head on her shoulder and began swaying back and forth. Moujo's wails slowly quieted.

Well… I hadn't exactly done THAT.

"Did you?" Tsuma said, sounding cross.

"Not… EXACTLY that." I said.

"I TOLD you to rock her." Tsuma glared at me.

"I didn't know that meant I had to pick her up." I replied.

"What are you talking about!" Tsuma demanded. "You didn't even pick her up!"

_I dropped the new bag of clothes that Tsuma had made me carry in from our trip to the baby store. She walked by with the sleeping baby and put her in the crib. I tried to keep myself from frowning._

_"Why are you so upset?" Tsuma said without even having to look at me._

_"It's not a son." I replied._

_"She's also not an 'it'." Tsuma pointed out. "I don't like this any more than you do, but she's our daughter so our lives now officially revolve around her."_

_"Our daughter." I repeated. Not our son._

Why was this a surprise? I had never picked up Moujo before.

"Is that…bad?" I asked.

"Yes!" said Tsuma. "You know, Shino, you're going to have to hold her eventually! You can't always just make ME do all the work!"

"She likes you more." I said but I had really just pulled that statement out of nowhere.

"If you held her more often then she would like you too." Said Tsuma as she continued to rock Moujo.

I paused for a few minutes and only watched the two of them.

"So…I'm going back to bed." I said.

"No you're not!" said Tsuma.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because." Tsuma replied. "You have to stay here until she goes to sleep."

"She'll go to sleep soon." I said.

"Then you'll go to bed soon." She said.

Tsuma was so unreasonable sometimes.

"Fine." I said. If she needed to prove a point to me by not letting me go to bed before her then whatever. I wasn't going to let it bother me. Too much.

"Shino, YOU should put her to bed." Said Tsuma as she pulled Moujo away from herself and held her out to me.

Immediately Moujo started up her crying again.

"She's crying now that you're not rocking her." I pointed out.

"So YOU rock her." Said Tsuma as if it was obvious, which it definitely wasn't.

"You do it better." I said.

"How do you know I do it better?" Tsuma said as if she were angry. But she had no reason to. "You've never done it before!"

"Which means you're probably better since you have experience." I said.

"Just take her!" Tsuma raised her voice over Moujo's crying. "She's your daughter too, you know!"

I knew that. I was aware that she was my _daughter_.

"Well fine then." Said Tsuma. "If you're not going to take her then I'll just drop her."

I had a feeling she was bluffing, but as I watched her slowly loosen her grip on the baby, I quickly came to the realization that she was completely serious. I reached out my hands just in time to catch her before hitting the ground.

"Tsuma, you could have killed her." I told her, not moving form my position.

"I don't care." Said Tsuma. "I hate her."

She waited, and so did I.

"Well, don't just stand there like an idiot with your hands out!" said Tsuma. "Rock her or something!"

I put my two hands under her arms. Then I rocked her back and forth a bit, but she just continued to cry.

"Not like that!" said Tsuma as she put her hand on the baby's back and pushed her forward into my body. "There. It's not THAT painful is it?"

"You'd be surprised." I said.

"I'm going back to bed." She said, pushing by me and leaving the room.

I was going to remind her that she should follow her own rules, but I realized it probably wasn't worth the trouble.

I wondered…if Tsuma hated Moujo so much, why was she so opposed to doing the one thing that would make Moujo a TRUE Aburame… allowing the bugs to occupy her body? No matter how many times I brought it up or tried to rephrase it, Tsuma always adamantly disagreed.

_"It's an Aburame tradition." I said._

_"I don't care." Tsuma said, crossing her arms._

_"It'll be weird if my daughter isn't like the rest of the clan." I said. "I'm the head of the clan. If I don't do it to my daughter then other people might not do it."_

_"Your stupid family isn't that stupid." Tsuma said. "They won't stop their stupid tradition just because you stopped."_

_"Stop calling my family stupid."_

_"Then stop saying stupid things and I won't have to."_

She said that out of all the things she hated about me, the whole bug thing was the biggest one.

It was then that I suddenly noticed Moujo had softened her crying.

This was the first time I had done this… gotten her to stop crying.

But now I was stuck. How was I supposed to put her back into the crib without her starting to cry again? I guess I had to wait until she went to sleep first.

So I paced the room for a little while, waiting for her to go to sleep. When I figured she was out, I leaned over the crib so far that I was practically inside of it, only having to let go of her.

With my daughter down and asleep, I backed away from the crib quietly and slowly and went into the other room where Tsuma was already lying down.

I climbed in the bed as well. "Is she asleep?" Tsuma whispered.

"Yes." I replied.

"There." She said. "That wasn't so hard."

"Speak for yourself." I said.


	7. Chapter 7

_"What?" Kiba practically screamed as he almost fell out of his chair and knocked out all his teeth. Hinata gasped and put a hand over her mouth, and their daughter just sat there blankly staring at me. "You have a daughter? Since when?"_

_"Can you watch her tomorrow or not?" I repeated._

_"Wait, back up!" Kiba said. "When did you get a daughter?"_

_"Almost a year ago." I responded. "Could you watch her?"_

_"Next thing you'll tell me is that you have a wife." Kiba said._

_"I do." I said._

_"You do?" Hinata said, looking shocked._

_"Since WHEN?" Kiba practically screamed._

_"We're going out for our ten year anniversary tomorrow… so that's why I need you to watch my daughter."_

_"Ten years?" Kiba yelled. "WHAT?"_

_"Kiba, calm down." Hinata said._

_"Why didn't you tell us?" Kiba said._

_"I thought the fact that I lived with her made it obvious." I said._

_"But…" Kiba stuttered. "There was never a wedding!"_

_"About that…" I said slowly. "There sort of was."_

_"You didn't invite us?" Hinata looked hurt._

_"No one was really invited." I replied. "Just my father and her mother."_

_Kiba leaned back in his chair and gave an exasperated sigh. "You've had this secret life this whole time, Shino! I'm appalled!"_

_"Kiba." I said. "Don't lean back in that chair. If it breaks, Tsuma will kill me."_

"Shino!" Kiba exclaimed as I entered the academy to speak with him. "What are you doing here? You don't have to be here. Your daughter's only like… two."

"I know." I said.

I was quite conscious as to the age of my elder daughter.

"Well? Did you not hear me? I asked why you were here! Not that I mind, but I'm still curious."

"Remember how I had a daughter two years ago?" I said.

"OBVIOUSLY!" Kiba said. "I remember finding out about her last year… I didn't even know that you were married! You never told me!"

"Well yeah." I said. "I know you were mad because I didn't tell you that Tsuma had a child."

"It's about TIME you apologized!" Kiba declared.

Apologized? What?

"I was just telling you that Tsuma had another baby so you wouldn't find out later on your own." I said.

_"Aburame Shino?" I was greeted as I scaled the stairs to the third floor, to the delivery room where my son was being born._

_"That's me." I said._

_"I'll just tell you now so you can stop worrying—"_

_I looked at him. Who was worried?_

_"—your second daughter was born with no complications at 8:04 PM!"_

_I stopped in my tracks. "Daughter?" I said._

_"Yes." Said the doctor, looking excited. "She is gorgeous, and your wife is waiting to see you."_

_I looked at the floor and then at the doctor. "Are you sure?"_

_The doctor looked puzzled at first. "About…what?" he said._

_"That it's a daughter." I said. It should have been obvious what I was talking about._

_"…Yes…" he hesitated._

"Congratulations, Shino!" Kiba exclaimed, grabbing me and giving me a big hug. "You certainly have gotten busy lately, haven't you?"

I hope he didn't expect me to respond to that.

"Though, next time, you should tell me when she gets pregnant."

What did he want from me?

Maybe I shouldn't tell him that my second daughter has been born for almost three months.

"What are you going to name him?" Kiba asked curiously. "Her?"

"Her." I said painfully. "We decided on Jijo."

"Well congratulations again!" Kiba said, getting WAY to enthusiastic about something that should not be celebrated. "I can't wait until I have your daughters in my class!"

I glanced at the clock. Tsuma was expecting me to be back because she didn't want to have to take care of the two babies.

"I have to go now." I went to the door. I had to stop as a child blindly ran through the doors of the academy, nearly crashing into me. After the moment's distraction, I looked back at Kiba who was still grinning a gigantic smile. "Will you tell Hinata?" I requested.

"Why, you don't feel like it?" Kiba said.

Why bother myself with going to his house to tell Hinata if he was going to see her at the end of the day anyway? But it would be easier to just agree with him rather than explain my logical reasoning. "No, I don't."

"Fine!" Kiba said. "I'll tell her! She'll be so happy for you and she'll probably want to come over!"

"Whatever." I said as I left the academy building.

I sighed and looked up at the sky. Once again, I had failed at producing a male heir.

I wondered if it was worth it to try again, or if I should just give up and deem myself a disappointment to my family. My father and mother certainly were lucky to have given birth to a son the first time around so they could do without the letdowns of having numerous daughters.

I entered my home and looked around.

"Tsuma…" I said, glancing around the corner, but I heard her hushing me.

"I just put Jijo to bed." She said. "And Moujo is down for a nap."

"Oh, we'll be quiet then." I said.

"I don't think so. I have to yell at you."

"Do you?" I said, trying not to sound irritated with this blunt confession.

Her eyes then filled with infuriated rage. Her usual calm demeanor immediately exploded as she advanced towards me and pushed me. I was a bit taken aback by her physical attack, so I stumbled. She was quick to shove me again, so I backed away from her.

Finally, as she went to hit me again, I grabbed both her arms.

"Shino!" she screamed. "I _hate_ you!"

"Tsuma, what is the matter?" I said, trying to hold her in place as she struggled to get free.

"I hate you, I hate you, I HATE you!" she rampaged as she started stomping her feet, going into what resembled a temper tantrum.

I could only blink and wait for her to explain herself.

I heard Jijo begin to cry and watched as Moujo poked her head around the corner, wondering what was going on.

"Stop screaming and tell me why you hate me this time." I said.

Abruptly, she wrenched herself away from me and stormed to the other side of the room, standing the corner with her arms crossed. Moujo ran in and looked around, confused, as Jijo continued to cry for attention.

"Mommy!" Moujo announced, pointing at Tsuma.

"Shino…" Tsuma said, and she sounded like she was crying. She turned around and, sure enough, there were tears in her eyes. This was the first time I had seen Tsuma cry.

"What is it?" I said.

"You promised you'd tell me if you had anything planned for our family." She whined. "And you said you always keep your word!"

"I do always keep my word." I reminded her. We had had this conversation just this morning before I had gone to tell Kiba about Jijo.

_"Shino, let's be honest with each other from now on no matter what." Tsuma said with a sigh as she got out of bed._

_"Sounds like a plan." I said. I was pretty sure I had been doing that since the first day I had met her._

_She didn't say anything._

_"So do you have any secrets for me?" Tsuma asked._

_"Not really." I answered. "I find myself to be pretty much an open book."_

_"Well, I don't find you to be pretty much an open book. I don't find you to be an open book at all, actually."_

_"What would you like to know?" I said._

_"What are you doing today?" Tsuma said._

_"Visiting Kiba."_

_"Why?" She made a face._

_"To tell him about Jijo."_

_"Why?"_

_"He has a right to know."_

_She had a frown on her face. "You hang out with him too much and—"_

_"You hate him." I said as I got out of bed as well. If I was going to catch Kiba before his class started, I'd have to get moving._

"Then WHY?" Tsuma said.

"Why what?" I asked.

"I took another trip to the doctor." Tsuma said.

I froze.

"I'm pregnant again."


	8. Chapter 8

How fortunate I was to be the father of three daughters.

Sons? Not a one.

On another note, Kiba was introducing sparring to his eight-year-old students. He had brought it up to me about a month back and requested that I come in to demonstrate a few moves to the students, and I whimsically agreed, figuring he'd forget in a day.

_"What do you say, Shino?" Kiba said eagerly. "Sparring? With me? In front of the class? Yes? Yes?"_

_I glared at him. "Fine." I said._

_"All right!" Kiba cheered. "That took hardly any convincing at all!"_

_"Very well, Kiba." I said. "I have to leave now."_

_"That's good. I've already said everything I need to say. Fly free, Shino."_

As it turned out, Kiba wrote it down on his hand and when he got home, he wrote it down somewhere on a piece of paper and then gave it to Hinata to remind him about it.

Sure enough, he called me to follow through with my agreement and we set up a time for me to come in and help him demonstrate to his eight-year-old students. One of the very LAST things I wanted to do. EVER.

"Now listen up everyone!" said Kiba.

His class was surprisingly attentive. I wondered how KIBA managed to keep control of a bunch of rambunctious little boys. He was practically one of them. Actually, that's probably why he's able to keep control of them.

"This is my good friend, Aburame Shino." He introduced me. "We were on the same team when we were twelve years old but he became a chuunin when we were thirteen. Since then, he's advanced to the jounin rank and even joined ANBU which is, as you all know, the best among the best!"

Way to give them my life story. As if they cared.

"So you all know what that means!" Kiba continued, addressing the class. "Shino is a VERY excellent and skilled ninja, meaning you are to take everything he says seriously! Assuming he says stuff at all, right Shino?"

He nudged me.

What did he want from me?

"Now, since I'm a chuunin, that means Shino is two ranks higher than I am, am I right?"

The class agreed.

"Meaning he doesn't have to go all out in this demonstration!" Kiba said but it was pretty much directed entirely towards me.

Did he actually expect me to harm him? As if I've EVER harmed him. When we were training together way back when, I always used to stop right before it came the time to inflict pain and damage on him.

_"Ah…well…" Hinata stuttered as she came over to where the two of us finished up our training session. "Um… are you all right, Kiba?"_

_"I'm fine." Kiba scowled at me. "Why do you always stop right before the final attack?"_

_"Because I'm not going to kill you." I answered._

_"Duh." Said Kiba. "But I asked you a question."_

_"That was my answer. If I went in for the final attack then you'd die, isn't that right, Kiba?"_

_"It's degrading. Beat me up better next time, got it?"_

_"Whatever you say, Kiba."_

And he knew that. So why he was even going there as beyond me.

"This sparring session will be based mostly on taijutsu." Kiba announced and the class moaned a bit. "But maybe if we're all nice to Shino, he'll come back some other time for a ninjutsu or genjutsu sparring session."

Yeah right.

"The first thing you have to do is get into your fighter's stance!" Kiba dictated as he stepped away from me and put his hands up.

I got into my own stance.

"All right…" Kiba said slowly. "First we're going to have a spar and then we'll do it all over again in half speed. So remember what you do, okay Shino?"

"All right." I said.

Kiba gasped loudly and looked at his students. "He speaks!" he marveled, only the humor them.

The class laughed.

I glared at Kiba but I think that only made it more enjoyable for him.

"Okay, seriously now Shino." Kiba said, looking back at me. "Just remember that I'm a chuunin and I hardly go on missions anymore AND I'm in front of my entire class."

"I know." I said.

"Is everyone ready?" Kiba asked the class and they nodded eagerly. Kiba gestured for me to go, but I gestured for him to go instead.

I hadn't fought Kiba in so long so I needed to test the waters. He probably fought completely different now, almost twenty years later, especially since he didn't have a dog partner by his side 24/7. I didn't want to embarrass him in front of his students by accidentally hurling him into next week when I expected him to dodge or block.

He came to me and threw a punch. It was obvious and a little sloppy so I threw it to the side without a second thought. He threw another punch and that one was just as poor as the one before.

"Kiba…come on. I know you can punch better than that. You were the best at taijutsu in our whole class."

"Class, take note of this!" Kiba said, turning his attention away from the battle. "Shino here is…" he paused and glanced around the room at all the eager faces who just wanted us to continue. "I said take note! Why am I not hearing any rustling papers?"

What followed was rustling papers as the students scrambled for their notebooks.

"Shino here is using a technique called 'taunting'." Kiba said as the students wrote furiously. "In most cases, it can be viewed as a shameful way of attacking your opponent, but I personally have nothing against it! The only way to defend against it is to throw it right back."

He turned back to me.

"So throw another mean spirited comment at me, Shino!" he said.

"Um." I said. "I was just stating fact. I wasn't taunting."

"Oh yeah, Shino?" Kiba said. "Well, did your mother dress you this morning or what?"

That was uncalled for.

My mother was dead. Or missing in action anyway.

"Of course, after taunting, you must always be ready for the worst." Kiba told his class, unaffected by my offended aura. "Some ninjas can really let it go to their heads. But don't become one of those ninjas or else your movements will become obvious and sloppy because you will be so BLINDED by your rage! But Shino knows I was just kidding, don't you Shino?"

Well yeah. I guess I had never told him that my mother was dead.

Or missing in action.

"So now we're going to fight for real!" Kiba told the students.

What followed was an extremely mild spar. It was just going through the motions for me with Kiba stopping after every few attacks to explain what just happened to his students.

"And we're just about out of time…" Kiba said, looking up at the clock. "I want everyone to thank Shino for taking time out of his day to come in and show this to you!"

"Thank you Shino!" chimed the students. I nodded at them.

With that, they got up and left the room noisily.

"That was fun!" Kiba told me as he started going around the room and picking up scraps of paper or trash that were left behind by the students. "It felt good to fight again! I don't do it that much anymore, you know."

"I know." I replied.

"So…about what I said about you coming back in." Kiba said, dropping the scraps into the trash and leaning up against his desk. "I was just saying that to make the kids happy. I know you didn't even want to come in for this one so I'm not going to make you come in again."

"Oh." I said. "Okay."

"Well, I have to prepare for my next class." Kiba said. "So you're free! I'm not holding you captive anymore! You can go home! Fly free, Shino!"

Fly free, fly free. Jeez, was that his new catch phrase?

"I'll…see you later." I said, pushing open the door and leaving as Kiba waved to me.

_"Hey, when do you want to give your Best Man speech?" Kiba said randomly. "Before or after dinner?"_

_Best man speech? Was I required to give one of those?_

_"HELLO!" he said loudly as he waved his hand in front of my face._

_I definitely don't want to do one of those. As if I had even prepared one. No one even told me that I had to give one so what made Kiba think that I had made one? _

_"No." I told him._

_"No?" Kiba asked as if my answer wasn't to the point enough for him to comprehend._

_You'd think after ten years he'd know better._

_"Kiba, don't you know me well enough to know that I am not going to give a Best Man speech?" I asked him._

_I looked at him. _

_His mouth was hanging open like a fish._

_"You're going to deny me a Best Man speech on my wedding day!" he yelled._

_"No." I told him._

_Kiba looked like a little kid, ready to burst out crying. I didn't know it meant so much to him. _

_I guess he shouldn't have made me his best man then if he was expecting a speech._

_He suddenly abruptly stood up and stomped off._

It wasn't as painful as I had originally assumed it would be. I thought I was going to have to be there all day as opposed to just for an hour or so. All I really had to do was throw a punch and then listen to Kiba explain it.

I looked back at the academy as some students ran inside. Maybe it was healthy for me to revisit this place every once and a while and be around kids.

Then again, I could always be in the company of children in my own home.


	9. Chapter 9

At least Tsuma had allowed me to continue our Aburame tradition through Jijo and Sanjo. But, by the time Moujo was six and Tsuma finally came around to allowing it, she was already too old.

It was time to enroll Moujo in the academy, and Tsuma seemed uncharacteristically concerned with Moujo appearance before she left the house. She straightened our eldest daughter's collar and brushed her hair curly brown hair, braiding them into two pigtails on either side of her head.

_"Shino, when is your daughter going to start at the academy?"_

_"When she's ready."_

_"She's plenty ready." Kiba said with a frown._

_"Kiba, you're starting to irritate me." I warned him._

_"Come on, Shino." Said Kiba. "I'm getting closer to the big 4-0… and so are you! I've taught practically everyone else's kids, but I've really been looking forward to teaching yours! It's almost as if you're keeping her out of the academy JUST to annoy me!"_

_I shifted uncomfortably in my seat._

_"We're still two years away from the 'big 4-0'." I reminded him._

_"This isn't right, Shino." Said Kiba, hitting the table a few times. "It just isn't right."_

_"Why isn't it right?" I said, shooting a glare at him._

_"Hey, I'm just saying…" Kiba started. "All those times when Tashoku baby-sits your kids—"_

_"I've been meaning to tell you, your daughter charges too much." I interrupted before I forgot._

_"That's beside the point!" Kiba said angrily. "What I'm saying is that sometimes they work a little bit of ninja training in there! And don't try to convince me that you don't train at least your oldest one!"_

_I didn't respond to that._

_"Come on. What's the REAL reason you won't send her to the academy?"_

"Shino, what are you staring at?" Tsuma said, looking up at me as she put a jacket on Moujo who was bouncing around excitedly.

"Nothing." I answered.

_"I don't want her to get hurt like I did."_

_"Get hurt?" Kiba repeated. "What do you mean, 'get hurt'? No one's going to hurt her as long as I'm around!"_

_"It's nothing, Kiba." I said, feeling a little foolish that I had put that out there. "I suppose it is time to enroll her."_

_"That's what I'm talking about!" Kiba cheered._

Moujo looked up at me with a bright smile on her face. She certainly was cheery for an Aburame. Maybe she wouldn't have the same unfortunate experiences that I did while growing up; spending most of my time alone during the recesses, being the last one picked when partners were chosen…

"Do you want to walk her there?" Tsuma asked, standing up. "Or should I?"

"Should we both go?" I asked.

"No." Tsuma answered flatly. "Because then we'd have to take Jijo and Sanjo too."

"Very well." I said. "Do you have a preference?"

"I'd prefer NOT to see Kiba and since you love him so much, you can take her."

"I don't love him."

She told me I was lying and then left the room to tend to our daughters.

"Daddy, will there be other Aburames in my class?" Moujo asked as she followed me out the door.

"I don't believe so." I replied, not recalling there being another Aburame her age. Maybe that was better for her, though.

"Daddy, can I hold your hand today?" Moujo asked.

"Not today." I replied. "Maybe tomorrow."

There's only so much physical human contact I can sustain in such a short period of time. I held her hand last Sunday.

"Okay." Moujo shrugged it off.

We stopped in front of the academy.

"Are you sure you want to go?" I said. "I could always train you at home."

"I'm sure." Moujo answered. "I want to meet other kids my age!"

"If that is what you want." I said, pushing the door open.

_"Aburame Shino—"_

_"Ew—Aburame?"_

_"Is there a problem?"_

_"Yah! My dad told me about the Aburames!"_

_"Please sit down." _

I stood in the doorway and watched as Kiba led Moujo to the front of the room.

_"Are you serious? In your body? Bugs?"_

_"Gross!" _

"Kids—" Kiba began as he put a hand on Moujo's head. "This is Moujo. She's joining our class."

_"The Aburame can be on your team."_

_"We don't want him."_

_"Well we don't want him."_

"She's from a very prestigious clan—The Aburames."

_"It's natural for the students in your class to be intimidated by you. You shouldn't let it bother you."_

_"But I had no one to play with."_

_"All the better. During the recess periods you can train hard and you'll always be that much ahead of your classmates."_

"I have an empty seat!" cheered a girl in the front row as she gestured for Moujo to come over and sit down next to her. Moujo ran over and sat down. They began to talk.

_"Father, why doesn't anyone want to by my friend?"_

_"I told you, Shino. That's just the way things are."_

_"I don't understand."_

_"I'll explain when you're older."_

I looked up and saw Kiba standing before me.

"Kiba?" I said, noticing that he had sent all the kids outside to play.

"Shino?" Kiba said in a mocking tone.

"What is it?" I said, standing up straight and uncrossing my arms.

"Shino, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're another one of those overprotective fathers." Kiba said.

"I'm not." I said in a final tone.

"Whatever, Shino!" said Kiba with an animated shrug. "You just want what's best for your daughter, that's all!"

"Well…" I said. "I just want her to have better than what I have."

_"No one can befriend an Aburame. They all believe we are incapable of love and friendship, so therefore we become so."_

"Kiba, we're friends aren't we?" I asked.

Kiba looked surprised as he organized some papers on his desk. He laughed a little bit as I sat down in the seat that Moujo had sat in earlier.

"Of course we are. Did I say something to make you think otherwise?"

"Sorry I didn't make a best man speech at your wedding."

"Shino, I forgot all about that! I don't even care."

"You care."

"Not really, Shino."

I could tell he cared.

"And I'm sorry I didn't invite you to my wedding."

"Shino, you're really starting to freak me out here." Kiba said.

"And I'm sorry my wife hates you."

"All right, what's this about?" Kiba said, putting some papers in a drawer. "Are you dying of a terminal illness?"

I stood up. "No." I said. "I was just thinking of things."

"You should probably get going." Kiba said. "I have to get ready for the kids for when they come back in."

"Okay."

I went to the door and left the academy. I somehow felt lighter.

I entered my house to see Tsuma there with our two younger daughters. She looked up at me, as did the two girls.

_"No one can befriend an Aburame. They all believe we are incapable of love and friendship, so therefore we become so."_

"Tsuma, do you love me?"

She blinked.

"Uh…" she said.

I waited. I could stand there all day if she needed me to.

She began turning a little red. "Shino…"

"Yes or no." I said. "And don't say that you hate me so much that you love me. Did you marry me for love or did you marry me because you didn't feel like looking for anyone else?"

She stood up. "It's hard for me to say." She said. "Do _you _love _me_?"

"Let's answer at the same time." I said.

"Fine." She agreed.

She put up three fingers, then two, then one.

_"Yes."_

I breathed audibly.

She stood awkwardly and uncomfortably. "What brought this on?" she asked, not able to make eye contact.

"I was just… testing a theory." I answered.


	10. Chapter 10

She was only twenty-two, and I didn't know if I was ready to let her go.

_"You're marrying an Uchiha?"_

_"Isn't it great?" Moujo swooned as she practically danced across the room._

_I suppose it was good that Moujo was to marry. Especially into such a prestigious clan. Especially to the boy who had recently been named Hokage._

_"You'll never have to go on another mission, Daddy!" Moujo said excitedly. "You can retire if you want! Don't act like you're not happy for me!" _

I guess I had dozed off. I was suddenly awakened when the front door opened and Sanjo entered, dropping a stack of mail in my lap. She was sixteen and fortunately, still belonged to me.

"Father, the mail came." She told me as she sat down across from me.

I sighed and began sifting through the mail. I bypassed the bills and the junk when I noticed a pink letter at the bottom of the pile.

"That looks like one of Moujo's." commented Sanjo.

"It does." I agreed as I opened it up. "I recognize her pink stationary."

_"You're having a big wedding?"_

_I sat in one of the pews at the church and watched my daughter standing at the alter with one of the Uchiha boys. Tsuma was sitting next to me, trying her best to keep a dry eye, and on the other side of me were my two younger daughters who couldn't be bothered with tears._

_I could only watch as she threw her bouquet up in the air and dash down the isle with the Uchiha boy. I stood up and watched them go out the doors as the pews emptied, chasing after them._

_She was gone now. No longer in my care._

I unfolded the letter and read it over once.

"What does it say?" Sanjo asked.

How could my daughter be pregnant? Tsuma had just practically given birth to her.

I didn't really know how to respond, so I gave her the letter.

She read it over.

"Already?" she said with a raised eyebrow.

"It's surprising." I said, taking the letter back. "But she did marry an Uchiha."

"That's true." Sanjo said. "Is Jijo home yet?"

"She's upstairs." I answered. At least, she had been there the last time I checked.

"What's the word?" Sanjo asked. "Is she a jounin?"

"She didn't say." I replied.

"Oh." Said Sanjo.

_"You're moving out?"_

_"Of course I am, Daddy!" laughed Moujo as she and her new husband packed up some of her things. "I'm married now. I can't live here!"_

_I watched as her husband did the heavy lifting._

_"Do you need help?" I asked._

_"No problem, Dad." He said. "I wouldn't want you to strain anything."_

_I frowned. This boy was not my son. What right did he have to call me "Dad"?_

_He kissed my daughter on the forehead and tramped down the stairs. Moujo looked at me with wide, excited eyes. She still could have been six years old if I thought about it enough._

"Where's Mom?" Sanjo asked.

"She's at the grocery store." I said.

"I thought she hated the grocery store." Sanjo said.

"She does." I said. "But we don't have any cheese and she had a craving for grilled cheese sandwiches."

"Good." Said Sanjo. "Mom makes a mean grilled cheese sandwich."

I eyed the pink stationary. This boy had never asked my permission to impregnate my daughter. They had only been married for about a year. It was too early for her to start a family. I was only just getting married at her age.

"Why did Jijo go upstairs?" Sanjo asked.

I looked at Sanjo. She certainly seemed talkative today. "She didn't say." I told her.

"She'll probably want to know that Moujo is pregnant." Sanjo said.

"We'll tell her when she comes downstairs." I said.

_"You're going on a trip?"_

_"Daddy, wow!" Moujo exclaimed. "I've never seen you so concerned! It's not far away, only off to the Sand Village."_

_"A trip?" I repeated._

_"It's not really even a trip." Moujo assured me. "Senjou just needs to talk to the Kazekage about some things and I'm coming along so he doesn't get lonely on the journey, and I don't get lonely waiting for him to come back."_

_"You could stay with us until he gets back."_

_I could still remember her laughter, as she thought I had cracked the first joke I had ever cracked. _

_But I was serious. I'm always serious._

My second daughter came down the stairs. "Are you a jounin?" I asked.

She nodded. "I expected it." She said.

"We all did." Sanjo agreed.

"I thought I heard something about Moujo." Said Jijo as she came down and sat next to Sanjo.

"She's pregnant." I said.

Jijo nodded as if she approved. I didn't approve. But I suppose no one ever asked me if I approved.

"What now?" Jijo said. "You're going to be a grandfather now."

Well. So I was. Another reason to dislike this boy.

_"You're not coming home afterwards?"_

_"We're going to meet up with friends to celebrate our anniversary and then Senjou and I are going back home." Moujo answered as she backed off the front steps. "But thanks for thinking of me, Daddy!"_

_I watched her go over to her husband who stood at the end of the walk and waved to me. I didn't wave back._

"I'm back…" Tsuma opened the door with a few bags of groceries.

"I thought you were only getting cheese." I said as I got up to take the bags from her before she complained that I was forcing her to carry them all.

"Well, I saw some other things that I needed." Tsuma answered as I followed her to the kitchen where she gestured for me to put the groceries on the table. The girls came in and started putting the things away as Tsuma got out the pan to make her grill cheese sandwich. We all worked in silence.

"Moujo's pregnant." I reported.

Tsuma dropped the pan on the floor and looked up at me in horror.

"What?" she demanded.

"We just got the letter." I said.

"When did this happen?" she said.

"Apparently recently." I answered.

Tsuma picked up the pan with a grunt and threw it back in the drawer. "I'll be in our room." She said as she stormed out of the room and up the stairs.

"Perhaps you should have softened the blow." Sanjo said.

_"You're moving further away?"_

_"It's just a couple of extra miles!" Moujo said. "I can still see the Hokage Mountain from our new home."_

_"But into the Uchiha villa? You're not an Uchiha."_

_"Yes I am, Daddy!" said Moujo. "I am now!"_

_"You won't be able to visit us as often." I pointed out._

_"I'll write." Moujo said with a nod._

_"I don't think I want you to live there." I said._

_"Daddy, Senjou can't be the only Uchiha not living in the Uchiha villa." Moujo said as if such a thought was ridiculous. "It's a nice area. It'll be a good place to raise kids!"_

_"Kids?" I said._

_"Forget I said it!" Moujo laughed. "Hey, the decision's not final yet, though. How about you all come over and check it out?"_

But the decision was final.

"Shino, I didn't expect you!" Kiba said as he opened his door. "You hardly ever show up unannounced!"

"Hello, Shino!" said Hinata happily.

"Hello." I greeted them both. "Sorry for barging in. I need some advice."

"It's no trouble at all!" said Kiba. "Come on in!"

Kiba's daughter married an Uchiha boy as well. And, since his daughter's husband and my daughter's husband were brothers, I guess Kiba and I were now somehow related. Distantly, but still related.

"What was it like for you when your daughter became pregnant for the first time?" I asked.

Hinata almost burst out laughing. "Kiba almost fainted!"

"I did not!" Kiba protested.

Hinata nodded at me.

"She's lying to make me look stupid." Kiba insisted.

"Why ask this, Shino?" Hinata questioned. "Is Moujo pregnant?"

I nodded.

"That's great news!" said Kiba. "Congratulations! You're going to be a grandfather now!"

I guess he noticed that I was not thrilled.

"Buck up, Shino." Kiba backtracked. "Keep in mind that every girl who gets pregnant is somebody's daughter! Even Tsuma, believe it or not!"

"I know that, Kiba." I said, throwing a glare at him.

"Well then." Said Kiba. "I guess my suspicions are finally confirmed. You, my friend, are an overprotective father! And don't try to deny it because you KNOW you are!"

"I'm not." I denied.

"Shino…denial never helped anyone." Kiba said.

"Kiba, don't pester Shino." Hinata said. "Shino, think of it this way. You've been down ever since Moujo married. Why? Because you're upset that you won't be there to protect her like you used to be able to. But like Kiba said, every girl is somebody's daughter and every girl eventually has to go off and get married. Just like Jijo and Sanjo will someday too."

"You can't hang onto them forever." Kiba added.

_"You know, Shino, you're going to have to hold her eventually! You can't always just make ME do all the work!"_

_"She likes you more."_

_"If you held her more often then she would like you too."_

I could count on one hand how many times I held Moujo when she was a child.

"I guess…I should have held her more."

"Don't look at it like that." Hinata said.

I stood up. "Thank you." I said as I went to the door. "I think I have to congratulate Moujo on her pregnancy."

I opened the door and looked back at Kiba and Hinata still sitting there, watching me leave.

"Kiba, I still owe you a Best Man speech." I said.

"Forget about it, Shino." Said Kiba. "I don't need it."

_"Why are you so upset?"_

_"It's not a son." _

I knocked on the door of the Uchiha villa, the first time I had come to visit Moujo at her home. As I waited for the door to open, I looked around the yard. It was a rather nice place to raise children.

The door opened and Moujo was there. At first, she looked surprised, but then she beamed with happiness and sheer joy.

"Daddy!"

**End. Yay!**


End file.
